Zatoichi The Fugitive (1963)

The blind swordsman's 4th film was also Dir. Tokuzô Tanaka’s second; he did such a fine job on the previous entry that I was glad to see him back at the helm. He has the ability to shift effortlessly from quiet moments to action scenes; even when he has a lot of visual elements in the frame he manages to keep what’s important as the focal point.
The story is a tragic one. Ichi has a price on his head, meaning his hope to avoid violence is once again shattered. Events spiral out of control and the usually calm swordsman gets angry, with good reason.

3½ farewells out of 5